SF Gatereports that Bay Area people gave a lower percentage of their income to charity than most big cities. The findings are from the Chronicle of Philanthropy and they're humbling to say the least. The report looks at tax returns for 30% of Americans and specifically examined charitable giving in 2006 and 2012. The San Francisco metro area (which includes Marin, Contra Costa, and San Mateo) and San Jose ranked 45th and 48th out of 50 cities in the report.
People in the SF metro area gave 2.4% of their income in 2012 and 2.5% of their income in 2006. Generally, it was found that the rich give more money to charity, but the poor give a higher percentage of their money. For the curious, the most charitable metro area was Salt Lake City, where residents gave an average of 5.4% of their income away.
To be fair to the Bay Area, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stacy Palmer told SF Gate that she has noticed lots of big charitable donations in the two years following what the report includes, but overall these numbers can serve as a helpful nudge to think about what you're giving and consider adjusting it if possible. Not sure how to help? Here's a great list of local non-profits.
[Via: SF Gate]
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